


love

by deandratb



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: Best friend feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-27 16:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19794973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: Of course she loves Schneider. He's family. She just assumed he knew that already.





	love

Family night had them all playing Dance Dance Revolution, but Elena and Alex won the toss-up to go first. That gave Penelope the opening she needed. 

She stepped closer to where Schneider was waiting near the hallway. “Hey, Alex told me you weren’t sure you were coming to my graduation. What the hell, Schneider?”

“I didn’t want to intrude,” he replied.

Though Schneider's eyes were following the game, his voice had that somber note in it. The one he'd been carrying since his relapse, the one that made her miss him when he was standing right next to her. “I know you’re usually cool with me coming to family events, but this isn’t really a family thing. Y’know? People only get a certain number of invites at graduations, and maybe–”

Penelope elbowed him, cutting him off. He’d been sober for more than two months now, but he was still on eggshells around her. It was starting to get on her nerves, Schneider being so un-Schneidery. _She'd been beside him through all of it, why would he be questioning his place in her life now?_

“Don’t be stupid, of course you're coming. I love you, and this is a big deal, I worked really hard for it. I want you there with the kids and _Mami_ and Tito--if he shows up. He said he would, but you never know with him,” Penelope added in a mutter.

She went back to watching the kids dance, waving the controllers back and forth, while the adults waited their turn. Alex was trash-talking Elena, and Penelope was pretty sure that if the round didn’t end soon, her son was going to regret it. 

A few moments of silence later, she glanced at Schneider, realizing he’d never responded. “Hey, Earth to Schneider, you heard me, right? You’re coming.”

“Yeah, I heard you.” He had the weirdest look on his face, like he was trying to figure something out.

Penelope handed her controller to her mom, and grabbed Schneider’s to pass it to Dr. Berkowitz, pointing the two of them toward the game so they wouldn’t hold things up. “Where’d you go?”

“I’m right here. Wait, did you just take my controller away? That was rude.”

“It was practical. It’s our turn and you were about to miss it. What just happened?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. We’ll go after those two finish their dance battle, right?”

Schneider had never had a good poker face. _At least not sober,_ she amended silently. The Schneider she was used to couldn’t hold much back. 

Penelope's boss made quite a contrast with her mom, both trying to follow the onscreen prompts. Dr. B was better at following instructions but moved like a giant puppet whose strings had been cut. Her _Mami_ possessed the flair of a professional, but began making up her own choreography two seconds into her turn. It was distracting, and this felt important.

“Come here,” Penelope said, grabbing his arm and leading him to the kitchen. “Stop being weird. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I swear, it’s nothing.” Hands raised defensively, Schneider took a step back, and she followed. He might be taller than her, but she knew better than to give up the advantage that came with throwing him off balance.

“Nope. Spill it.” She fisted her hands on her hips and gave him her best _don’t mess with me_ face.

He shifted in place, then looked past her to the family and relented. 

“You’ve just never said that before, and it threw me a little, okay? It’s really not a big deal.”

“Said what?” She thought back, but all she remembered was being annoyed about Tito, and Schneider being weird. “What did I say?”

“See? It doesn't matter. You don’t even remember it!” Schneider tried to pass by her and return to the dance party, but she stopped him. 

“Wait.”

She did say one other thing. _Was that what…_

“You mean when I said I love you?”

He nodded. Penelope thought he might even be blushing, which was so ridiculous that her words came out harsher than she’d intended. 

“Schneider, I say that all the time! What’s your problem today?”

“You don’t.”

“I do!”

“No.” The way he whispered it had more impact than if he’d raised his voice. “No, Pen, you don’t. You say a lot, but not that.”

She shook her head, searching her own memories. Of course she said it. He was her best friend. She loved him like the chosen family he was. She had for years now. 

“I…”

She was drawing a blank, but that didn’t mean he was right. In the other room, the kids had taken control of the game again, and Penelope could hear Elena teasing Alex while she racked her brain for proof that she hadn’t just dropped those words into conversation for the first time without even thinking about it.

She wasn’t sure which was worse, the idea that she could have done so thoughtlessly, as though what clearly mattered to him meant nothing to her…or the possibility she’d really never told him before. 

_Damn._

No wonder he was still acting like he didn’t know if he belonged in her life. She was so open with her feelings with everybody else. How could she not have realized she was tiptoeing around Schneider just as much as he was with her?

“I’m sorry.”

Penelope hated being wrong--even more than she hated the way Schneider shook his head at that, rejecting the idea that he deserved her apology. 

“It’s fine.”

“No.” She grabbed his hands, held him still so he would look at her. “It’s not fine, Schneider. And it’s not nothing. You coming to my graduation matters, because you matter. You hear me? You’re important to this family, and to me, and I do love you. We all do. Okay?”

He stared at her for a really long time before nodding. “Yeah. Okay. Penelope?”

“What?”

Schneider squeezed her hands, smiling as he let go. “I love you too.”

She knew that. Of course she knew that. Schneider radiated love; she didn’t think he knew how to hold it in if he tried. _It was still nice to hear, though._

“Yeah.” Penelope grinned back. “Now let’s go show them our moves. I’m gonna kick your ass.” 

His smile brightened. “Tough talk, Penelope. You’re going to eat those words.”

“Whatever.”

The game declared Schneider the winner, but Penelope was pretty sure it was a tie.

**Author's Note:**

> #2 in my 100 Stories Challenge for ODAAT. Prompt list [here](https://actuallylorelaigilmore.tumblr.com/post/186061589290/because-i-needed-a-challenge-to-get-me-back-into).


End file.
